This autumn is special in our home as we decided to let our girl to a nursery so I could slowly start working during the week and have my weekends at home. But it seems that those first days are stressful of the child as much as to us, the parents. The first two days went quite ok, a bit of crying but she was still willing to go, however this morning she woke up saying she wouldn't go and when eventually we went there, there were just tears and she just wouldn't let me go and she wouldn't even talk to the teacher. So all I was left was to take her back home and try to convince her to try another time. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

When we got home, I knew I wanted some comfort food and here you are - a mix of Lithuanian and Turkish tradition - potato and zucchini fritters with Turkish 'salsa' - acili ezme ( an easy version).

Potato and zucchini fritters with Turkish tomato garnish

Serves 2

What you need:

1 large potato ( palm size)

2 small zucchinis

1/2 onion

a small handful of parsley and dill

1 egg

2 tbsp flour

salt and black pepper

oil for frying

tomato relish:

1 medium sized onion

1 garlic clove

1 small cucumber

3 tomatoes

1 small red pepper

1/ 3 chile, seeds removed

a handful of parsley and mint

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

1/2 tsp sumac (sumak)

1 tsp tomato paste

salt and black pepper to taste

What you have to do:

Make fritters. Peel and finely grate potatoes. Grate zucchinis. Mix them in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Leave them for 10 minutes then sqeeze out the juices. In a bowl mix the vegetables, finely chopped onion, parsley and dill. Add egg and flour. Season with a little salt and black pepper. Preheat a pan with some olive oil, then use your hands or two tablespoons to shape patties and fry them on both sides until golden brown and cooked through.

Make the relish. Peel and chop onion and garlic. Cut the peppers, tomatoes and cucumber into chunks. Put these vegetables in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer the vegetables onto a sieve and leave to drain a bit. Finely chop parsley and mint. Add them into the same food processor together with oil, pomegranate molasses, tomato paste, chile pepper, sumac. Pulse until finely chopped and then add drained vegetables and pulse a few times until mixed. Transfer into a bowl and season with salt and black pepper to taste. If nescessary add more pomegranate molasses.

Serve fritters with this spicy tomato relish. Also you can serve with natural yogurt whisked with some feta cheese and garlic. Enjoy!